Several of the Alaska senator's Republican colleagues have doing the same thing after Stevens was charged yesterday with taking more than a $250,000 in unreported gifts.

Coleman initially told reporters he would wait for justice to play out before making a decision about returning any money from Stevens' political action committee.

In announcing donation to charity, the Coleman campaign said Coleman still believes firmly in the presumption of innocence, but that it was clear Coleman's opponents would try to use the campaign money as a distraction from other issues.